UPS moves out of the panda-shipping business

UPS moves out of the panda-shipping business - Atlanta Journal Constitution

UPS is out of the giant panda-moving business. And no more terra-cotta warriors or whale sharks either. The latest example in the philanthropic shift: Rival FedEx will be taking the 3-year-old Atlanta panda Mei Lan to China next week, a decade after UPS imported her parents to Zoo Atlanta.

For years, UPS has shipped precious cargo for groups like Zoo Atlanta, the High Museum and the Georgia Aquarium. Company spokesman Norman Black said that over time, UPS donations to Zoo Atlanta have tallied $3 million.

But, Black said, the UPS Foundation decided last year to focus instead on disaster relief.

It was a big PR deal here in Atlanta when UPS first flew in the Pandas and later flew in the two whale sharks for the Georgia Aquarium. We even had a P-1000 that had a panda painted on the roof as advertising that could be seen out of downtown office windows. And now Fedex will make a big deal about coming into our Corp. hometown and doing this. I imagine planes flying into China aren't as full as when they fly out. A couple of pandas couldn't have taken up that much space.